I'm expecting my third baby in a few weeks and have always had a significant oversupply. Recently our local children's hospital opened a breastmilk bank for NICU babies. I think I should donate! Has anyone done this? What was your setup like? I was thinking about pumping one breast while nursing on the other. What sort of medications can you take? I often take allergy pills and antacids. Will they allow that? What about the occasional glass of wine? Finally, will pumping on top of breastfeeding help me shed my pregnancy weight gain faster? Cause, I'm not gonna lie, that would be a bonus:-)

Contact the bank and they'll send you an info pack. You will need to get some bloodwork done (if it's like our local one). I don't think allergy medication would be allowed (like Benedryl) but they'll know. I'm not sure about antacids... Something like TumS might be okay but Prevacid may not. Again, they'll know. Wine will be fine; they'll just tell you how long to go after the wine before pumping to donate.

I have donated privately to a friend of a friend's baby in the NICU. I just fed one side and pumped the other. The most annoying part is having to deal with keeping the pump well cleaned after each session.